“The Practical Archaeologist” By Jane McIntosh
Summary:
By Junho Paek
In this five-paged, long article, the writer, Jane McIntosh informs the reader about the surveys that archaeologists will take before the actual excavation, and what instruments they use to actually do the survey. However, before all this surveying happened, the archaeologists needed to first make a map of a particular area which might be “archaeologically interesting” (pg.50). And there was a method used by the archaeologists to do this, and it was called offsetting. According to the article, (pg.51), “Offsetting is a quick and easy method of measuring a feature […]” So far, archaeologists have been using many kinds of detectors, echoing machines, and even sound rays to efficiently excavate later on.
The content of this article was also very informative about the devices and instruments used in many surveys, too, as well as each one’s positive and negative consequences. For example, the typical metal detectors could give very fast and general results, but the detector could not go deep enough to find old artifacts. Sometimes, the metal detector was so faulty that archaeologists would find recent metal in recent junk and trash. The faulty findings were so bad, some countries made it illegal for archaeologists to use metal detectors without authorization.
Other than that, there were many other devices, very similar to one another in some aspects, but very distinct in their own ways. There were the fluxgate gradiometer, proton, gradiometer, and the resistively meter. There were also electromagnetic methods, such as the pulse induction and the soil conductivity, which were commonly used by archaeologists today. Through this article, we know that archaeologists are constantly trying to come up with way more effective ways of surveying, and new devices to help them excavate less costly, more quickly, and more effectively.
Summary:
By Junho Paek
In this five-paged, long article, the writer, Jane McIntosh informs the reader about the surveys that archaeologists will take before the actual excavation, and what instruments they use to actually do the survey. However, before all this surveying happened, the archaeologists needed to first make a map of a particular area which might be “archaeologically interesting” (pg.50). And there was a method used by the archaeologists to do this, and it was called offsetting. According to the article, (pg.51), “Offsetting is a quick and easy method of measuring a feature […]” So far, archaeologists have been using many kinds of detectors, echoing machines, and even sound rays to efficiently excavate later on.
The content of this article was also very informative about the devices and instruments used in many surveys, too, as well as each one’s positive and negative consequences. For example, the typical metal detectors could give very fast and general results, but the detector could not go deep enough to find old artifacts. Sometimes, the metal detector was so faulty that archaeologists would find recent metal in recent junk and trash. The faulty findings were so bad, some countries made it illegal for archaeologists to use metal detectors without authorization.
Other than that, there were many other devices, very similar to one another in some aspects, but very distinct in their own ways. There were the fluxgate gradiometer, proton, gradiometer, and the resistively meter. There were also electromagnetic methods, such as the pulse induction and the soil conductivity, which were commonly used by archaeologists today. Through this article, we know that archaeologists are constantly trying to come up with way more effective ways of surveying, and new devices to help them excavate less costly, more quickly, and more effectively.